Wagering game machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines depends on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing wagering game machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for wagering game machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play.
Furthermore, wagering game manufacturers create tools that operators of casinos, and other gaming establishments, can use to configure wagering game machines with the wagering games provided by the wagering game manufacturer. One such tool is a remote configuration and download (RCD) tool that an operator can use to remotely configure wagering game machines, that are within a gaming establishment, with wagering games. For example, using an RCD tool, the operator assigns specific pay tables, betting limitations, etc. for the wagering games based on a range of potential expected values (EV) for the wagering games as dictated by jurisdiction. An EV is an expected amount of winnings that one or more wagering games are expected to pay out over time on a particular wagering game machine. Different jurisdictions have different required EV limits or ranges. The RCD tool assists with computing EV's for wagering games, comparing those EV's to jurisdictional rules, and presenting to the operator specific gaming settings, such as pay tables, maximum bet values, denominations, etc., that are allowable (e.g., within jurisdictional limits or ranges) based on the jurisdictional rules for the casino, or other gaming establishment, in which the wagering game machine resides.
Some wagering game manufacturers hard code functions for EVs into their RCD tool, which hard coded functions are used, by the operator, via use of the RCD tool, to determine EVs and configure wagering games. Each wagering game can have different hard-coded EV functions, and a wagering game manufacturer can offer scores of games. Further, the RCD tool can include hard-coded EV functions for combinations of primary and secondary wagering games. Thus, an RCD tool can have hundreds of hard-coded EV functions. The hard-coded EV functions are part of the RCD tool's source code, which is the programming code that the wagering game manufacturer compiles to generate versions of the RCD tool to send to the operators. However, use of hard-coded EV functions for an RCD tool presents certain challenges. For example, every time the wagering game manufacturer updates even one of the EV formulas for a given game the RCD tool's source code must be similarly changed and the wagering game manufacturer must rigorously test the entire RCD tool to ensure that the adjustment to source code does not cause errors or other unexpected effects to the overall functionality of the RCD tool. Furthermore, whenever the source code of the RCD tool is modified, the new version of the RCD tool that results from that modification to the source code must be approved by jurisdictional regulators before it can be distributed to the operators of the gaming establishments. The jurisdictional regulators must also perform testing to the entire RCD tool. Therefore, even if one adjustment to one wagering game's EV is modified, the overall effort to modify, test, and approve the updated RCD tool requires significant resources and takes significant time.